This just made my Tuesday. Hopefully my hoop game goes as well as the studio session that produced this track. A few of my Yay Area favorites representing Oakland right chea. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this track is fresh fresh fresh.

1. This guy his 5'10"2. He goes to my former high school (Franklin) in Seattle, WA. 3. This is from the McDonald's All-American practice, he's the second player to play in the game from my high school (Aaron Brooks).4. He just led Franklin to the Washington state 'ship, where we won every game by 20+ points. 5. He's Peyton Siva, going to Louisville next year. Get to know him.

Apparently Nate Rob is on a mission to take down all the NBA superheroes. First he took out Dwight Howard and it looks like Chris Paul is next on his list. The only difference is that he wants to literally whoop Paul's ass.

This would be a great cage fight but as much as I like CP3, I'd have to put my money on Nate Rob in a fist fight. The replay at the end shows how much pushing the refs let go before calling the blatant foul on Robinson.

Didn't I tell you Barack was that dude? Thanks to his new tax credit plan, we will all start seeing a few extra bucks coming in on our paychecks.

From CNN:

President Obama has asked that all employers adjust their payroll systems by Wednesday so eligible workers can start receiving the new Making Work Pay tax credit through their paychecks. The credit, available for 2009 and 2010, was a part of the economic recovery package lawmakers passed in February.

Just how much extra cash you will see depends on your marital status, your salary and how many allowances -- or exemptions -- you normally take.

As a rough guide, singles eligible for the credit might get between $10 to $15 per paycheck if paid weekly; for those married filing jointly, they're likely to see an extra $15 to $20.

Popcrunch.com ranked the 50 hottest student bodies for 2009. I'm disappointed to see that they have USC at #12, but I can understand seeing as I haven't been there for years. As long as we stay ahead of UCLA in these type of polls, I'm good.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

For obvious reasons, we’d all rather have a medium stack than a short stack. But there is one advantage to being short-stacked: your decisions are easy. With a medium stack, almost every decision you make is complicated and almost every move is awkward.

A medium stack is defined as when you have about 30-40 big blinds, and learning how to play it is absolutely vital to tournament success. In most tournaments, you’ll have a stack that size from about the time half of the field has been eliminated all the way to the final table.

This means you’ll potentially spend up to half of your tournament in a position where every pot you play is pivotal and every decision is tricky. You have far too many chips just to open-shove, like you would with a smaller stack, and if you open for a standard raise, that’s already close to 10 percent of your stack that you’re putting at risk. So you can’t play too loose.

That said, you have to keep things in perspective: if you play too tight, you’ll quickly find yourself a short stack because of the rising antes and blinds. This can get even more complicated if you’re at a table with a lot of aggressive players; the temptation will be to play extra tight so you don’t waste chips raising and then folding. Always keep in mind that there will be times when you’ll have to take risks because the blinds and antes you can win by open-raising will help keep you afloat.

Focusing purely on the challenge of playing a medium stack in early position, my advice is that you should mostly be playing hands that you’re willing to play for your entire stack: if you’ve got pocket Tens or higher or even A-K, you want to try to get it all in. While you can expand this range to include pocket 8s and 9s, A-Q, A-Js or K-Qs, these are hands that you might want to get away from if you’re re-raised by a solid player.

Let’s say blinds are 250/500, I have 15,000 in my stack, and I’m dealt pocket Jacks. If I make a standard raise to 1,500, and a player in late position re-raises to 4,500, I’m just going to go ahead and shove all of my money in and hope for the best. I really can’t afford to be throwing those hands away with that sized stack.

If the situation is identical but I get smooth-called and the flop doesn’t scare me – something like 9-7-4 rainbow – I’m going to bet the flop and continue betting, raising or check-raising until I’m all in no matter what my opponent does. Without a scare card on board, you really can’t get away from the hand. You also don’t want to give free cards when the pot is already sizeable and any Ace or King could freeze you.

An exception to following through like that comes if I’m up against an aggressive player. Say I have pocket Jacks and make a standard pre-flop raise, an opponent in late position calls, and the flop comes Q-7-4 rainbow. Odds are that my Jacks are still the best hand, so I have to take my chances and proceed as if they are. But since my opponent is aggressive, I’ll check to him, and if he bets, I’ll check-raise him all-in. I’m giving him a chance to bluff, then protecting my hand with a big all-in bet if he does bluff. That will often work better than throwing out a continuation bet, which could make him fold any hand worse than mine. It’s also reasonable to make this play with A-A, A-Q or as a bluff with A-K.

Playing a medium stack in later positions is a different proposition. You’ll often have to deal with a raise from an early-position player, and if you don’t, the hand range you can open with is considerably wider.

But in early position, a tight-aggressive approach is definitely your best bet. Be careful about which hands you play, but once you decide to play a hand, be prepared to push with it.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Gilbert Arenas, the internet fan favorite for his excellent blogging abilities and happy-go-lucky/emotional persona, has announced to some reporter that he will be playing in a few games this season. A few games of his choice.

According to Chris Miller of Comcast via the Washington Post, Gilbert Arenas told Miller via a text message that he plans on making his return Saturday when the Wizards host the Pistons. Here is the reported content of his text: "You're the first to get the truth. I'm playing Saturday against Detroit. And I'm only playing home games but I will play in Cleveland. Me and Cleveland fans have this love, hate relationship."

My question is, why risk it? You aren't healthy enough to play in the road games but you're going to play in the home games? Then you're obviously risking a fourth straight season-ending injury that can carry over into next season.

Stocks surged today, recharging the rally after the Treasury's plan to buy up billions in bad bank assets and a better-than-expected existing home sales report raised hopes that the economy is stabilizing. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 497 points, or 6.8 percent, according to early tallies, posting its biggest one-day point gain since November, CNNMoney.com reports

For some unknown reason (at least unknown to me), underground favorite Copywrite picked a fight with the new white hype Asher Roth, who has already signed a major deal, graced the cover of XXL and formed alliances with industry types like Mos Def, Don Cannon and others. Asher came back at Copywrite with an annoying diss track and now Copywrite has dropped his second diss track on Roth.

And the survey says.... Copywrite.

Here are the links for all three diss tracks, props to Synopsis for the assist:

Wow this is ill. King Tech on the boards. I'm so used to Crooked I spitting on some straight mixtape shit that this track caught me off guard as he goes in to murder the whole industry on the direction that the hip hop game has taken in the past several years. Oooowwweee.

I find these hideous however I'm sure they're comfortable as hell and can probably add up to four inches to your vertical.

The Skyposite features a one-piece lightweight integrated Foamposite technology for ultimate strength and durability, a durable rubber cupsole with LunarLlite technology forefoot cushioning and Nike Zoom unit in the heel, and a solid rubber outsole with maximum herringbone traction pattern.

Power 106's Big Boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy interviewed Ricky Bossy Rossy and Rick Ross goes into some 15-minute response that basically admits he was a correction's officer although he manages to promote his album and B.E.T. special in the process.

This guy is such a joke to me it's unbelievable. And it has nothing to do with his beef with 50, just his ridiculous drug trafficking lyrics.

Big Boy: "Was Rick Ross in fact a Corrections Officer?"Rick Ross: "Rick Ross done did it all to get money."

I guess it makes anything cool as long as you did it to get money. I'll have to remember that one anytime I f*ck up, I'll just say I did it to get money and everything is good.

LMAO. However, Ross goes on to state that he's "certified in the streets" so it doesn't really matter what I think.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

This is a crazy/interesting/wild cut by Snoop and here's what he says:

Snoop Dogg Millionaire” was produced by Wild Animals and Chase & Status; it also features the Hustle Boyz on the chorus. Los Angeles’ Wild Animals (John Legend, Kurupt, Murs) is one of music’s hottest up and coming production duo. UK’s Chase & Status won the Best Album Award at the 2009 Drum and Bass Awards. - Snoop

Here's an animated video that gives some illustration to wtf Ash Roth is talking about on this song. My question is: Is Asher Roth the next big thing or just another great white hype? I'm trying to envision him as a long-lasting rap brand (i.e. Em, 50, etc.) and I can't see it. But it's definitely possible.

Here's some funny online table chat between Tom "Durr" Dwan, Phil Ivey and David Oppenheim that I found on 2+2:

durrrr: oh can i ask you a golf question?David Oppenheim: yupdurrrr: im in a match vs phil and i lost 4 days in a row, would it be ok for me to ask for an adjustmentDavid Oppenheim: with phil iveytdurrrr: yeaDavid Oppenheim: not alllowed to ask for adjustmentsDavid Oppenheim: it just part of growing upPhil Ivey: my mandurrrr: hahaha amazingDavid Oppenheim: you just have to practice sorry buddurrrr: not actually btw, we were jus curious ur responsedurrrr: im sure ill lose 10 in a row @ some ptDavid Oppenheim: lol we all have to take are lumps

Adam Waddell is a freshman center for the University of Wyoming Cowboys. He also is the most passionate dunker in the history of the Daily Dunk - after all, how many other cats you see literally RISK THEIR LIVES to throw down?

Germans, typically, are pretty on-the-ball with their business tactics; given that, this news is all-the-more intriguing.

A German frozen food company has caused a stir in the US by putting a fried chicken product branded with the name of the United States' first Commander-in-Chief of African American heritage. This is either a gross oversight by the company's marketing department, or a cheap publicity ploy by the company's executives.

Judith Witting, a sales manager for the company, Sprehe, said the connection between Obama and fried chicken - a stereotype long associated with African-Americans - never occurred to her.

"It was supposed to be a homage to the American lifestyle and the new U.S. President," Witting told Spiegel Online, a German media outlet.

"We noticed that American products and the American way of eating are trendy at the moment," Witting said. "Americans are more relaxed. Not like us stiff Germans, like [Chancellor Angela] Merkel."

I'm sure she meant it as constructive criticism, but...anytime Gwyneth Paltrow is calling you out for lacking street cred, then I think it's pretty safe to say that ownership has taken place. When asked by MTV UK to weigh in on her "Two Lovers" costar's recent personal reinvention and bizarre behavior, the famous, faux-British actress didn't pull any punches. From Yahoo! Movies:

But just because she doesn't know what's going on with him doesn't mean she can't bestow a little GOOP wisdom upon poor, misguided Joaquin.

"What advice would I give to Joaquin? Hmmm...maybe to go live in the projects for a few years to get some authenticity, maybe."

Monday, March 16, 2009

Here's some vintage stand-up by Bill Cosby, from his 1983 special "Bill Cosby: Himself". You get his trademark silly faces and voices, with the intriguing twist of a man who knows a lot more about what it's like to be high than you might expect. Bill used to party back in the day; people tend to forget that. I'd love to go back in time and split a blunt with the man.

To all my true hip-hop heads out there: Don't worry, there's a reason that I'm posting this as the Video of the Day. Skip past the opening cartoon and peep what Souljah Boy and his goon squad are doing... playing cards. I can't really tell if they're playing spades, go-fish or some form of five-card stud, but I can dig it. Hopefully I'll run into them on a poker table in Vegas someday soon.

Not to mention this song is my guilty pleasure of the moment and the 'featured actresses' are on a very high level.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Normally, when you break a backboard with a dunk, you're looked at as a hero. But when you do it in pregame warm-ups and cost your team the game (and, quite possibly, the playoffs), chances aren't so good that your teammates will be congratulating you afterward.

On March 5 in Cut Bank, Mont., Isaiah Martin, a 5-foot-11 senior guard for Harlem's boys basketball team, dunked during warmups for a high school tournament game with Shelby.

There was a shower of glass as the backboard shattered.

Harlem had to forfeit the game.

According to the Montana High School Association, dunking is not allowed in pregame warmups in tournament play. If a backboard is damaged by a pregame dunk, the offending school must forfeit.

The Harlem head coach raises some good points in the article, however. The likelihood that a "smaller" kid like Martin was the sole cause of the glass breaking is probably slim. I really hope that Martin doesn't take too much heat for this from his teammates and classmates. The full story can be read at Rivals.com.

I saw this on Sportscenter last night and said "Wow." However, it's hard to find college highlights on youtube so I figured I wouldn't find it. Today I get an email from KK with the subject line "WOW" and look what's inside...

The semi-bluff is one of the most powerful weapons in any poker player’s arsenal. If there’s a decent chance you can steal a pot by semi-bluffing, you should usually take it. But, as with any play you make at the table, the semi-bluff is always most effective when you use it at the correct time in the correct situation. Semi-bluff too much and your opponents will know when you’re on the draw; semi-bluff too little and your opponents will know to fold whenever you bet. The key to semi-bluffing is to always mix things up and never become too predictable with your betting patterns.

Let’s say that you’ve flopped the nut flush draw and are pretty certain your opponent has connected with the flop in some way, be it top pair or maybe even a set. A lot of players like to check-raise as a semi-bluff in this spot. There are a couple of problems with this play: first, if you always check-raise in this spot then your opponent will be able to put you on a draw very easily. Second, if your opponent really does have a hand, there’s no need to check-raise here because there’s no way he’s folding and there’s a good chance he’ll pay you off anyway if you hit your hand.

A better move in this spot might be not semi-bluffing and just calling instead. This way, if you hit your flush on the turn, your options are wide open – checking, calling or raising are all viable plays − and your opponent won’t be able to put you on a hand quite as easily. By not semi-bluffing, you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot when your opponent actually has a strong hand. There are players out there who’ll assume you’re not on the draw if you don’t semi-bluff, so use that to your advantage.

Now, if you don’t think that your opponent has a strong hand or your draw isn’t that strong (say a low flush draw), this is the perfect time for a semi-bluff. The semi-bluff should be used as a tool to steal pots when the opportunity arises, not as a means of building big pots.

Another good way to mix up your semi-bluffing game plan is to wait until the turn to semi-bluff rather than always doing it on the flop. This can be a dangerous play because you’ve only got one card to come on the turn and you’re not getting the same odds. But it also means that your opponent is less likely to think that you’re semi-bluffing and put you on the draw. It looks pretty strong if you call on the flop and then raise on the turn; your opponent might think you’ve flopped the nuts and throw away a pretty strong hand.

Another advantage to semi-bluffing on the turn rather than the flop is that you could pick up additional outs on the turn. Say you have a gut-shot straight draw on the flop and then pick up a flush draw on the turn. You’ve just gone from four outs to about 12, which might be worth a shot at taking down the pot right then and there. A lot of players will also have trouble putting you on the flush draw in this spot; it’s just harder to see that flush draw on the turn than it is on the flop.

Once again, the key to a good semi-bluff is picking the right spot to pull it off. Choose poorly and you could stand to lose a good portion of your stack; choose well and you could throw your opponents off balance and hit them where it hurts when you make your hand.